Elephant populations in Africa have declined dramatically in 50 years

In recent decades, elephant populations in Africa have declined significantly. That’s at the University of Colorado explore. The measurements cover the period from 1964 to 2016.

During that time, there was a population decline of 70 percent for the Savannah elephant, and even a 90 percent decline for the forest elephant.

“The study shows how even something as large and attractive as an elephant can become extinct,” said one of the lead researchers, George Wittemyer.

The decline is due to habitat loss and poaching, but the trend is not visible everywhere. Some numbers disappeared completely, while others grew.

For example, the number of elephants in the war-torn Sahel region has been greatly reduced. In East and Central Africa, the number of elephants has declined, according to researchers, due to ivory poaching and human population growth.

In southern Africa, elephant populations are doing well, especially in Botswana. Elephants are protected and managed in that country. According to Wittemyer, it is important to learn lessons from these successes.

The research was done in 475 places. That was not an easy task, says the main researcher. “Elephants may be very large, but counting animals is complicated and requires a lot of resources,” says Wittemyer. For example, Savannah elephants are observed by observers from airplanes and forest elephants from the ground.

The research is not a measure of the number of elephants left on the continent, Wittemyer emphasizes. “It’s an assessment of how each population is doing. And in general, they’re not doing very well.”